The genus Ziziphora belongs to medicinal plants. It is often used as a stomach tonic, carminative, antimicrobial, and expectorant; the extracted essential oils can be used as a second line of defence against pathogens. This study aimed to determine the antioxidant activity of essential oils of Z. clinopodioides as well as antibacterial activity against foodborne pathogens (Bacillus sp., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas sp.). The antibacterial activity of Z. clinopodioides essential oil was determined using the microdilution (M.D.) method in the nutritional broth medium and the agar disk diffusion assay. The result demonstrated that essential oil exhibit solid antibacterial properties against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Sequentially regarding MIC and MBC values, Escherichia coli was a higher level of resistance to the essential oil compared to Bacillus sp. Our findings suggested that the essential oil of Z. clinopodioides could be used as an antibacterial agent. The total antioxidant capacity of Z. clinopodioides leaves was assessed as ascorbic acid equivalents per gram of the leaves essential oil extract. The total antioxidant capacity was determined using ascorbic acid (y=0.1185x + 49.508, R2=0.3877). While the result of Z. clinopodioides was (y=0.1372x + 40.032, R2=0.4503).
Keywords: Antibacterial; Antioxidant activity; Essential oil; Ziziphora clinopodioides.